The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) foreign currency and deposits overseas amounted to $1.457 billion in 2024, lower by 34 percent compared to $2.206 billion in 2023.
The BSP also reported a significant drop in its deposits to other central banks, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) last year to $705.46 million compared to $1.876 billion in 2023.
Based on BSP data, currency and deposits in other foreign banks, meanwhile, increased by 127.9 percent to $752 million from $330 million previously. The BSP identified these banks as “banks headquartered outside” of the Philippines.
The BSP’s foreign currency and deposits are included in the country’s US dollar reserves or gross international reserves (GIR). As of end-December last year, GIR stood at $106.26 billion, up from $103.75 billion in 2023.
The data on total currency and deposits, while part of GIR, is not disclosed along with GIR when the reserves data is released to the public.
The latest GIR reported by the BSP is for January 2025 of $103.27 billion, lower than end-December’s $106.26 billion.
Despite being lower than previous, the reserves ensure availability of foreign exchange to meet financing needs, including balance of payments’ (BOP) requirements. These dollar reserves are also the BSP’s war chest against speculative attacks on the peso in the exchange rate market.
As of end-January this year, GIR is equivalent to 7.3 months’ worth of imports of goods, and payments of services and primary income. It is also equivalent to 3.7 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity or external debt that will mature in the next 12 months.
The BSP’s reserve assets comprise foreign investments, gold holdings, foreign exchange holdings, reserve position in the IMF, and special drawing rights (SDRs) of the IMF.
As per the latest data, the BSP’s foreign investments amounted to $86.13 billion, down from $89.47 billion in December 2024 and from $87.28 billion in the same period in 2023.
Gold reserves totaled $11.75 billion, higher than the previous month’s $11 billion and from 2023’s $10.299 billion. The central bank also registered foreign exchange holdings of $733 million, lower compared to December 2024’s $1.366 billion and from $1.162 billion the same time in 2023.
The country’s reserve position in the IMF and SDRs reached $671 million and $3.732 billion, respectively, compared to the previous year’s $754 million and $3.776 billion.
